Painful Admissions
by ianna28
Summary: Forced into a dream reality, Ryan must find his way out and alive. With his past catching up with him and Eric along for the ride, getting home seems harder. What's Kendrel's secret, and how is Ryan involved? Sequel to Men, Lies, and Dreams, 3rd in series
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did though.

Summary: Forced into a dream reality, Ryan must find his way out and alive. With his past catching up with him and Eric along for the ride, getting home seems harder by the minute. But what other mysteries must Ryan uncover while in this alternate reality? What exactly is Kendrel's secret and how does it affect Ryan?

Note: It may seem that this chapter jumps around, but my beta and myself couldn't find any other way to set this up. I'll try to promise that it won't jump around like this.

A/N: Here ya go, chapter 1, new fic, finally up.

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**Chapter 1**

When he left his apartment, Ryan wasn't quite sure where he was headed. His head was littered with thoughts and flooded with emotions. Both Eric and Kendrel had seen his files; worse yet, they had taken his files! They were supposed to be his friends, his few friends, his close friends. Now he couldn't help but feel betrayed.

When Ryan finally brought his mind back to reality, it took him several minutes to figure out where he was. Turning in a quick circle, he deduced that he had turned down an alley on the other side of town. Sighing, Ryan pulled his jacket up around his neck and turned around back towards the street.

A figure stepped out from the shadows towards Ryan, catching the man off-guard. He stumbled back and put his hands out against the brick wall. Ryan was aware of the figure talking, but couldn't understand the words. A hand reached out and Ryan felt himself panic, his body rigid and unmoving. A haze descended on his mind and he felt cold fingers push his eyelids down. He was vaguely away of his body falling to the ground. The last thing he heard were the garbled words before everything stopped.

/\\/ (- -) (- -) (- -) /\\/

Eric frantically turned his head to look down every street, every store front, and every alley searching for Ryan. Several hours had passed since the younger man had left his apartment. Kendrel and Eric had canvassed the mile or so around Ryan's apartment but no clues had been found. They had then decided to split up going in opposite directions. The sun was setting and Eric was quickly losing light to search.

He turned the corner, ready to find another empty alleyway, but stopped as his eyes locked onto a mess of brown hair. Eric pulled out his phone and ran over to Ryan's unconscious body, quickly checking for a pulse.

"Kendrel! I found him, I'm at Riverview and Third!" He didn't give her a chance to respond as he hung up and lifted Ryan into his arms. He was almost surprised at how light Ryan was, but knew that the man didn't eat much to being with. Lately though, he had seemed to be getting worse and Eric was worried at how pale he was.

/\\/ (- -) (- -) (- -) /\\/

Something brushed over Ryan's cheek and he groaned and swatted at it. Turning to his side, he mumbled something about five more minutes. When he felt something brush over his cheek again, he slowly opened his eyes, then blinked when he saw green grass; a field, no less. Sighing, he pushed himself up and looked up and around, disheartened when he didn't recognize his surroundings. The only things Ryan could see was what appeared to be a house in the distance, at least a mile away.

_'__At least it won__'__t seem that long going down hill,__'_Ryan thought as he started walking. His mind was still foggy but he thought that the last place he had been was in an alley. He remembered something cold, then nothing. Whoever had been in the alley with him must had taken him to this place. If he had been in the mood, he would be blaming Eric and Kendrel, but he wasn't.

/\\/ (- -) (- -) (- -) /\\/

"He's still breathing, that's a good sign, right?" Eric and Kendrel looked at their friend. Eric had taken Ryan back to his condo, as it was closer. Kendrel had quickly arrived and advised against taking him to the hospital.

"Sure." Kendrel shrugged. "Just means that he's not going to die soon." She turned to meet Eric's shocked look. "What? It's true."

"How can you be so calm about this? We have no idea what happened to him and all you can say is, he won't die soon?" Eric's tone had risen at least an octave. "I can see how much you really care about him," Eric accused, eyes hard.

"And maybe you care too much," Kendrel shot back. She wanted to bring his attention to the fact that the Incubus that got away had appeared to Ryan looking like Eric, not some hot male supermodel. "Was it guilt that drove you to look for him? Knowing that you were why he ran out in the first place?"

"I was not alone in that. I was not the one who stole his folder, I was merely the one who told him about it."

"Do not place all the blame on me!" Kendrel yelled. "I didn't act alone in looking into his files. I'm pretty sure that a police officer looking in National Government files is illegal."

"I'm not a cop anymore," Eric growled out fiercely. "Who are you-" They were both distracted by the sound of breaking glass. They both looked at each other before Kendrel moved out of the room.

Eric watched her disappear into the dark hallway towards the sound then looked back at Ryan and frowned. Kendrel did have some kind of a point. He did feel a little bit guilty about Ryan running off, maybe if he had caught him sooner he wouldn't be lying in Eric's bed. Eric sighed and shook his head. The world, and his mind, was full of what if's and he didn't need to dwell on them anymore, he had done enough of that when he quit the force.

He saw a shadow and turned, thinking that Kendrel had come back, but there was no one there. He narrowed his eyes a little and took a few steps towards the door. He thought he heard her footsteps coming back in the hall, then shivered and quickly turned around when he felt a cold presence behind him. His eyes widened slightly at the figure in front of him, but before he could think on it, a hand reached out and closed his eyelids, whispering foreign words to his ears. Eric felt his body falling but all he saw was darkness.

Once out of sight of Eric and into the hallway, Kendrel narrowed her eyes and they seemed to give off an eerie glow. In the dark, she could easily see the broken glass on the floor and feel the breeze that filtered in from the broken window. She quickly turned when she felt something brush past her. Kendrel slowly walked back towards the bedroom. She thought she saw a shadow move but attributed it to Eric moving around. That was until she heard a thud and saw Eric's arm fall in front of the doorway.

As Kendrel ran in the figure ran out, seemingly through the wall. Kendrel paused then picked up Eric's limp body and slipped him onto the bed next to Ryan. She sighed as she looked at them, both looking identical in expression. She would bet anything that that figure, that thing, that ran out was the same thing that had attacked Ryan. Now she just needed to figure out what was wrong with them, and how to fix it.

/\\/ (- -) (- -) (- -) /\\/

Ryan slowed as he finally approached the house. Although he had been walking for several hours, the sky still remained light outside. He looked at the house up close for the first time and felt his breath hitch. He knew the house, and he knew it well. He had lived in the house for the first thirteen years of his life.

Slowly he walked inside, noticing that everything was the same as the day he had left. His head perked up when he heard a soft thump from upstairs. Quietly he slipped up the stairs, towards his old bedroom. When he poked his head around the corner of the door his eyes widened. "Eric??"

Eric's head sapped up at the voice of Ryan. He thought that he was in the bedroom of a teenage boy. "Ryan? What's going on?'

"Um, I'm not quite sure. How did you get here?

Eric pushed himself up and looked around briefly then back at Ryan. "I'm not sure. I was watching over you, then I felt cold and stiff. Then nothing at all." Ryan made a noise and Eric raised an eyebrow. "What do you know?"

"Not much. I saw someone though, he, or it, touched me before I blacked out." Ryan still felt some pent up anger and betrayal towards the man, and Kendrel, and really did not want to be stuck with him at the moment. He turned and headed back downstairs before Eric could ask him another question.

Eric blinked but followed the younger man, he seemed to know where he was going, and Eric didn't want to get lost. He traveled down the stairs a little slower than Ryan, looking at all the pictures on the walls. He stopped at a family picture the ones who must have lived in this house. Suddenly his eyes widened, he has seen these people before. Eric turned his head to look at Ryan, to see the adult who was once the little boy in the picture.

"Ryan," Eric started tentatively but Ryan didn't turn around to acknowledge him. He walked down a few more stairs then stopped abruptly, his eyes drawn to another picture. "Ryan? Who's this?"

This time Ryan did stop and turn around, eyebrows creased in question. He squinted a little at the picture a little, not seeing the whole thing, but remembering what had been there. "Um, my Aunt, on my mother's side I think. We rarely saw her, when I was younger."

"How many times did you see her, because I think you're missing something important here." Eric was still staring at the picture and Ryan sighed, walking up the stairs to meet him. As Ryan turned his head he stopped and stared at the picture. "You didn't tell me that she was your Aunt."

"Because I didn't know," he answered quietly while they both stared at a picture of Kendrel, with a different hairstyle, standing next to Ryan's pregnant mother. "It's hard to remember someone you don't see. But, she looks exactly the same. She should have aged by now."

"Maybe we should just get out of here. I mean, if we're at your house then we have a long way to go to get back to my place." Eric sighed and walked down the stairs, but stopped when he noticed that Ryan wasn't following.

"This may be my house, but we're not in Boston." Ryan followed and then passed him, but didn't look at him. Eric frowned a little and was about to ask him what was wrong when he bumped into Ryan, who had stopped abruptly. Eric looked up and felt his blood run cold.

Ryan felt all the air leave his body, all his strength start to wane as he gazed at the living room. He started to shake his head and backed up into Eric, who instinctively wrapped an arm around him. He didn't hear the words that Eric whispered to him.

On the floor were the dead corpses of his parents, the same way they had been when he found them twelve years ago. He was suddenly unable to draw in a breath as the scar on his own back started to burn. He let out a yell and felt his knees give, but he didn't fall. He could feel Eric's strong arms holding him up, and could hear him saying something with panic in his voice. Then Ryan found his voice.

"We need to leave, we need to get out of here. Now." He tried to pull away from Eric, but found that he wasn't strong enough, nor could his legs support him fully. "He's here, I can feel him. Please, we need to leave!" Ryan pleaded.

Eric frowned but nodded and helped Ryan turn around so they could leave through the back, away from his parents' bodies. Eric looked up and stopped with Ryan still in his arms. He pulled him to the side slowly and put a silencing finger to his lips.

Ryan looked up and tried to suppress his gasp. A large shadow could be seen walking down the hall towards the duo and Eric tried to hide them in the kitchen behind the pantry. Ryan had started to shake and couldn't find enough air to pull into his lungs.

"Ryan," Eric whispered into his ear. "Ryan, please, calm down. It's going to be okay."

"No, no it's not," Ryan practically cried out. Eric frowned, having never seen his friend like this. "It's him, he's back, it's too late."

Eric cupped Ryan's cheek gently to get Ryan to look at him. "Listen to me, I want you to turn around and run when I say." His eyes flickered over towards the shadow and noted that whoever it was could probably hear their whispers now and would know that they were in the house. "Run, and I'll be right behind you. I swear."

Ryan's eyes widened and he frantically shook his head back and forth. "You can't!" Eric winced when he realized how loud Ryan had actually said that. There was a deep chuckle from behind them and Eric pulled Ryan away and behind him. His breath caught when he saw who the chuckle had come from.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did though.

Summary: Forced into a dream reality, Ryan must find his way out and alive. With his past catching up with him and Eric along for the ride, getting home seems harder by the minute. But what other mysteries must Ryan uncover while in this alternate reality? What exactly is Kendrel's secret and how does it affect Ryan?

A/N: I know, I'm horribly slow, but school is almost over so I'll be updating more when I get it. But today you get three chapters!

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**Chapter 2  
**

Standing only a few feet in front of them was a tall man, and yet he wasn't a man at all. Eric could feel something dark coming from this man, and his looks reflected that feeling. He was taller than Eric, his skin ashy pale, and appeared to be in better shape than any guy Eric had seen at the gym. His eyes flashed red and he grinned, revealing sharpened fangs.

"How long it has been, Ryan Wolfe?" The demon's voice was smooth. "You seem to have grown up rather nicely. A shame."

Ryan looked into the demon's eyes and felt his body relax, but his mind was still traveling a mile a minute. He knew this creature was part vampire, was more than just a vampire, and he also knew that this demon wanted him dead and had killed his parents. And, yet, he couldn't stop his body from relaxing at the sound of his voice.

"And who is this?" He moved closer and reached out a clawed hand towards Eric. Eric moved his head back, and moved Ryan back with him, glaring back at the red eyed demon. "He's brave, much like your parents were."

"You're not going to touch him," Eric growled out, his hands reaching behind him to take Ryan's, to reassure him that he wasn't going to let anything happen to him.

"You think you can stop me?" The man seemed amused by Eric's actions. "A mortal of your status is going to stop me?" He let out a loud laugh that caused Eric to narrow his eyes more and Ryan to flinch. "I could kill you before you even thought of moving."

Ryan looked around Eric's shoulders and saw something glowing in the demon's hand by his side. "Don't!" He yelled without thinking. He pulled Eric to the ground as something hot flew past Eric's head.

"I won't allow you to interfere again, Ryan Wolfe!" The demon roared and grabbed Ryan's arm roughly, throwing him back into the living room. Ryan slid against the ground and slammed into the bookcase, several books falling on top of him.

Eric scrambled to his feet to run to Ryan, but winced he felt the demon's claws sink into his arm as he was lifted up. Eric struggled and locked eyes with Ryan. His eyes suddenly widened when he felt something on his shoulder blade. It started to burn and push into his skin and he let out a shout of pain.

"Stop it!" Ryan cried out and he turned to get up. He felt something in his leg twist and pull but he ignored the pain, trying to get to Eric.

The demon growled and threw Eric into Ryan, causing them both to fall to the ground. "This isn't over, Ryan Wolfe. I will be back." When Ryan looked up the demon was gone. Eric's pained breathing caught his attention once again.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

Kendrel jumped from the seat she was sitting in when Eric suddenly started to twist on the bed, grunting in pain in his unconscious state. She ran over and grabbed his shoulders trying to still him. She glanced over at Ryan and frowned when she saw his face contorted in pain, and a touch of fear.

Eric's body jerked and Kendrel was caught off guard. She turned his body a little and saw something slowly forming on his shoulder blade. She touched it lightly and could feel that the mark was still warm. What she found odd was that it was still etching itself into his skin; the obvious source of his pain and discomfort. Kendrel sighed and leaned her head back.

"Why me? Why this family?" She muttered and pulled a blanket over both boys once they had settled down again.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

"Eric? Oh god, are you alright?" He helped Eric sit up and turned to look at his shoulder and grimaced. Eric now sported an identical burn to his own on his back.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured quietly.

Eric shook his head. "It's alright. That could have gone a lot worse." Eric tried to smile at him but groaned when he shifted his arm a little too much. "I could have lost my arm." Ryan shook his head. Eric blinked when Ryan pulled his shirt up from the back, lifting it over his head. He saw the burn on his back, in the same place that the demon had burned him.

"It's not just some mark," Ryan said quietly. "I was supposed to die that night. It's the mark he gives to his victims seconds before he kills them." Ryan pulled his shirt back down and pushed himself up gently from the floor. He winced and almost fell when he tried to walk and Eric sprang into action, catching Ryan before he fell, ignoring his own pains.

"Are you alright?" Eric pulled Ryan into the kitchen and onto a chair.

Ryan leaned back into the chair and nodded. "I think so, I must have sprained my ankle or something. I'll be fine." His voice was quiet and still a little shaky, and Eric could catch the glances that Ryan would direct at the living room, where his parents' bodies still were.

"I'm gonna go find something to wrap it up in, then we're gonna get out of here." Eric touched Ryan's knee for reassurance before getting up and practically bounding up the stairs to the bathroom.

Ryan looked down and saw that even against his legs, his hands were still shaking. He tried to take a couple deep breaths, but found that didn't help him at all. He heard Eric's footsteps coming back towards him and looked up only when Eric was kneeling in front of him again.

"Okay, I got an Ace Bandage and an ice pack. And I think I saw a cane or something around here you could use." Ryan nodded numbly at Eric's words and watched as he carefully lifted Ryan's leg up onto another chair. He was able to concentrate on Eric's soft touch to his ankle, at how he didn't cause any discomfort, and how gentle and nice it felt to have Eric's hands on his leg. He found that he was relaxing slightly in Eric's hands and held on to that feeling.

Soon Eric was putting his foot back down on the ground and running into the dining room to grab a cane from the umbrella holder that was in the corner.

"This should help, at least keep most of the weight off of it." Ryan nodded and took the wooden pole as he stood up slowly.

"We should get moving," Ryan said quietly and turned to head out the back door. Eric opened his mouth to say something but found that no words would help this situation right now. Instead he caught up to Ryan and helped him as he limped out of the house.

Ryan was slightly surprised to notice that his house was no longer sitting in the middle of the field that he had woken up in, but was now sitting parallel to a small creek and surrounded by tall oak and maple trees.

"I've never been there, but I'm pretty sure that Boston isn't surrounded with this many trees," Eric commented as he looked around.

"Where I lived it wasn't," Ryan confirmed. "It wasn't a big city, but there were a lot of kids around to play with when I was younger." He found himself picking at wrinkles and dirt in his shirt, something to keep his mind occupied. "Nice little suburb, you know?"

"Wish I did," Eric let a little smile cross his face. "I grew up in the city of Miami. Cars everywhere, playing basketball in the street, hoping that you didn't lose your ball." Ryan snorted a little with laughter. "What?" Eric looked over at him. "You never had to deal with any of that?"

"Nope," Ryan shook his head. "I left the house when I was thirteen, but then, you know that." Ryan's smile softened a little. Eric felt himself internally wince; he knew that they were going to have to talk about the whole fiasco that had led up to this.

"Yeah, I did. Listen, Ryan, I'm sorry, really I am." Eric looked at him.

"I know you are, I'm just still a little baffled as to why you and Kendrel would take it." Ryan paused then shook his head. "Okay, I'm more baffled as to why you would take it, not so much Kendrel. I mean, she didn't even tell me that she was my Aunt. Of course, I did forget, too." Eric put his hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"You're babbling, Ryan," Eric stopped the younger man. "I didn't take the files, but I did look at them. We just wanted to help. But it did bring up some questions while I was looking into it all. I feel like this would be a bad time to ask, but-"

"You're right, right now is a bad time to ask." Ryan nodded, affirming Eric's first point and stopping him from going on. "Let's just, try and find a way out of here." Eric nodded as they continued to make their way through the strange forest, silence descending on them.

Several hours later, Ryan slowed to a stop and leaned back against a tree. "We should stop here to rest." Eric nodded and helped Ryan sit down, and lean his leg out on the ground.

"Is it just me, or does it seem that the sun hasn't moved?" Eric commented as he took a seat next to Ryan.

"It doesn't, I've been here for what would seem almost two days, the sun hasn't moved." Ryan leaned his head back against the tree trunk. "Do you remember what you said in my apartment?" Eric blinked and looked over at the resting man. "When you were talking to me. You said that you were almost killed once. What did you mean?"

Eric nodded slightly, not sure that Ryan had even remembered what he said. "Well, several years ago I actually worked Patrol, on my way to promotion. There was a shoot-out one night and I got hit in the leg. Patched me up at the hospital and set me on my way, but a couple weeks later I went back to the hospital, but in an ambulance from the station that time. Seems everything was not fine. A blood clot had formed in my leg and I passed out when it released and shot up my blood stream."

Ryan watched Eric as he recounted his own memory. He noted that Eric didn't look him in the eye, instead kept his gaze forward, looking into the trees. "They said it just missed hitting my heart, and they caught it before it reached my brain." Ryan heard Eric's voice get softer. "It would have taken about six months to get cleared to go back to the force, and it would have taken even longer to reach the promotion I had been working towards. I decided that maybe it just really wasn't worth it, and took the PR position I have now." Eric seemed to shrug off the end, and the real reason he was at his current job; he had gotten scared.

An almost comfortable silence followed the end of tale, and the two men leaned against the tree as a soft breeze blew through the trees. Ryan tried to stop the yawn he felt coming but no matter how much he clenched his teeth he couldn't stop it, and Eric noticed. "Maybe we should try to get some rest, continue when we wake up, since we'll never know when a new day comes." Ryan nodded a little and leaned his head back against the tree trunk.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

Kendrel looked out the window and watched as the sun spread its rays, signaling a new day. Glancing back at the boys, she noticed that they both had relaxed considerably. A smirk crossed her face when she saw Ryan's head leaning against Eric's shoulder. Kendrel wondered exactly what was happening wherever their minds were. She hoped that they were working things out, it would make it that much better when Ryan came back and remembered how mad he was at her.

She stretched her arms and slowly moved her legs from the chair. Her stomach made itself known with a loud gurgle. Rolling her eyes, Kendrel made her way to Eric's kitchen and looked through his fridge. Eventually she made herself a roast beef sandwich with the last of Eric's meat and grabbed a glass of water and made her way back to the bedroom.

As she walked back into the room, she slowed her steps when she sensed something else in the room. Before she could think more on it, she felt a force push her back into the hallway, the plate smashing on the ground with her breakfast, and the water splashing the walls as she fell. When she looked up, her eyes glowing yellow once more, she saw the same shadowed figure that had appeared when Eric entered the same state as Ryan.

She quickly jumped up when the figure moved towards the bed and the boys. With inhuman speed, her leg kicked out and connected with something soft and the shadow dropped back. Kendrel blinked she heard the shadow hiss as her.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded.

Instead of receiving an answer, the shadow slid across the ground and pushed her back into the bedside table, breaking the lamp and clock that was housed on the surface. Her arm lashed out and caught the shadow's arm before it could reach Ryan and threw it back into the wall. She felt something sharp tear at the skin on her arm before it melted back into the wall and disappeared.

Kendrel rubbed her arm and frowned. The boys were still in the same position as before and appeared to be safe. When she looked back out into the hallway at the mess, she cursed the shadow figure. "Bastard, that was the last of the roast beef." She sighed and waved her hand and the mess started to clean itself.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did though.

Summary: Forced into a dream reality, Ryan must find his way out and alive. With his past catching up with him and Eric along for the ride, getting home seems harder by the minute. But what other mysteries must Ryan uncover while in this alternate reality? What exactly is Kendrel's secret and how does it affect Ryan?

A/N: I know, I'm horribly slow, but school is almost over so I'll be updating more when I get it. But today you get three chapters!

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**Chapter 3  
**

It felt like they had been walking through the forest for days, but then again, Ryan noted, the sun never set. They had stopped to rest several times and his leg was starting to feel better, just a little sore. He sighed as they stopped once again to rest.

"I've just noticed something," Eric commented as he took off his jacket. "We haven't had to stop for food, and I don't feel hungry."

Ryan nodded. "I was thinking that too, it has to go along with the reason why the sun doesn't set." He shrugged as he slowly sat down, taking the weight off of his healing, but still sore, ankle. A slight silence followed and Ryan knew that Eric was itching to talk. He wanted to clear the air, but Ryan also knew that Eric would have many questions that he really didn't want to answer. "Go ahead," Ryan sighed.

Eric blinked and looked over at the younger man. "What?"

"Go ahead and ask the questions that are plaguing you. I know you want to." Eric blinked then took a minute to think about what he should ask first. He didn't want to get Ryan upset right away.

"Well, who attacked us?" Eric looked at Ryan but noticed that he didn't return his gaze, his eyes were locked on the dirt in front of him.

"Praxon," Ryan said quietly. "He's a demon, obviously, I mean, I guess I found a few other things too, but-"

"Ryan," Eric said gently. "You're rambling again."

"Right, sorry, I do that when I'm nervous." Ryan took a breath. "I know you read the report and all that, but it obviously doesn't give the whole story. I was thirteen, and I went downstairs to get something to eat, or something. I knew that my parents would be awake, they were always up before I was. My mom had a routine, so as to not upset my OCD, it was pretty bad at that time." Ryan looked up, leaning his head back. "I think, think that I saw my mom die. I saw her look at me, then her eyes kinda lost their light."

Eric watched Ryan, knowing that he didn't have to be telling him any of this, but also knew that it was something that he probably needed to do. His hand moved and slowly rested on top of Ryan's, letting him know that he was here.

"My parents were both on the ground, dead, and then I heard him coming out of the kitchen. I looked up and felt myself frozen to the floor. I don't know how, but I somehow managed to fight him off, and next thing I knew I was running down the sidewalk with an aching pain in my shoulder. One of the neighbors must have called the police because I thought I saw them when I was running. Those moments are fuzzy for me, I really don't remember much at all, but I eventually found myself by the airport. I must have looked horrible," Ryan chuckled humorlessly. "Some couple passed me and the woman stopped and knelt down in front of me. I didn't hear a thing she said, I just stared at her, and next thing I knew her husband was putting some money in my pocket. They asked me if I had any family around, and I don't know why I said it, but I said that I had some in Nevada. They bought my ticket and then I was down in Henderson, it's about twenty minutes away from Las Vegas."

"I don't know if I can picture you anywhere near Vegas," Eric said, hoping to lighten the mood a little. A smile formed when he heard Ryan chuckle slightly.

"You say that now, but you didn't know when I was younger. My friend down there, Greg, he let me crash with him for a little bit. I don't mean that I knew him before I was down there, He actually caught me walking around on his way home from school one day. We talked on the way home and he brought me in and told his parents that I was from his class." Ryan nodded a little and smiled. "He was trying to be a rebel teenager, but failing at it. I liked that about him, he kind of had this 'I don't care' attitude."

Ryan grabbed a stick from the ground and started tracing designs in the dirt. "While he went to school, I found some odd jobs to do, make some of my own money. When I was sixteen I was able to trick a landlord into thinking that I was old enough to get my own apartment. I was actually pretty cunning back then, I mean, it wasn't that long ago, but still. Greg and his boyfriend, Nick, helped me manage my OCD, too. I really owe them a lot, especially Greg. I still keep in touch with him sometimes, he's actually a lab rat at the Crime Lab in Las Vegas, Nick is a CSI. I find it ironic that they work at the same place."

Now Ryan turned his head to look at Eric. "Now I'm going to anticipate the question you really want to know. Why couldn't you find any information about me in any public records, right?" Eric blinked, caught a little off guard and could only nod. "Those files you had were the original police report of my parents case. After two years they couldn't find anything, then suddenly the lead Detectives die and the papers get lost in the shuffle, then go missing." Eric raised an eyebrow, having worked a desk job while he was recovering he knew all about the process of files. "I found them, when I was eighteen, and I kept them."

"It was hard convincing Greg to believe me when I told him about their murder. I showed him my shoulder, then the pictures and report. I think it really took him a while but he eventually believed me when he went to look up my personal records in the National Database. He said that someone had red flagged my information, so in a few hours, we eradicated any existence of my name and files. Ryan Michael Wolfe no longer exists."

"Wait, you stole your own files, erased your own information?" Eric's brow was creased in confusion.

"You looked through the files, Eric, the only thing you saw was that they thought they saw me running from the scene. The only thing for sure was that I was missing. Someone had already gone through the trouble of making it hard for the police never to find out about me, or that I was their son. And I was pretty sure that the government or any officials were looking for me; I ran from the scene, they either thought I was another victim or a suspect. It was Praxon, the one who killed my parents."

"You know, I can't say that my life has been boring in the past year," Eric mumbled under his breath. "And if I hadn't just met that demon, I'd say that you were insane. What did you do after Henderson?"

"I went to California for a couple years, then came to Miami. I had decided that no one was going to find me, unless I wanted to be found. I obviously wasn't able to stay hidden enough, I mean look at the hell I've raised in the last year."

Eric snorted. "I wouldn't really say that you've raised hell. You've just, led an interesting life so far. And you've managed to solve multiple murders, even though the last we weren't really able to catch her." Eric shook his head a little as subconsciously his hand was rubbing Ryan's own hand.

Ryan sighed a little and shook his head. "Was there anything else you wanted to ask me right now?"

Eric thought for a moment then nodded. "Are you still angry at me?" He asked, knowing that Ryan had every right to say yes. Ryan was silent for a while and Eric was starting to think that maybe he shouldn't have even asked.

"No," Eric blinked and looked at Ryan, shocked at the answer. "I know I should be, and I was for a while, but I just can't be angry with you right now." Ryan looked at Eric with a slight smirk. "Now, Kendrel I'm still mad at. I won't even call her Kandy." Eric snorted with laughter and shook his head. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, letting all the information sink in, and just enjoying the moment of peace.

"You know, maybe this place is good for me," Ryan chuckled lightly and Eric raised an eyebrow.

"How so?" He couldn't help but asking at the set up.

"Well, my OCD hasn't really been on my mind lately. I haven't had any big impulses lately, it's actually kind of refreshing." Ryan shrugged and smiled a little.

"I'm happy for you, but there's no way that I'm staying here," Eric protested.

Ryan chortled and shook his head slightly. "Don't worry, I have no intention of staying here at all. I was just thinking that it's been nice to not have to deal with any of my routines." Ryan leaned his head over so that it was leaning on Eric's shoulder. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my god, who's feeding Puff?"

Eric stared at Ryan for a moment then started to laugh. Ryan shot a glare up towards Eric.

"Don't worry about your cat, Ryan, she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She's made that clear in the past year, she can even take care of you sometimes." Ryan nodded a little.

"Yeah, I guess your right. If Kendrel doesn't get over there I'm pretty sure she knows how to get into the food cabinet."

"Well, and maybe we'll be able to get out here soon, so she won't have to suffer without her wonderful master for long." Eric smirked and Ryan smiled.

"Now you're just sucking up."

"And what if I am?" Eric questioned, raising an eyebrow in query.

"Well, it might be working," Ryan admitted.

Eric smiled slightly and moved, slowly tilting Ryan's head up by the chin. "Tell me if this works." He leaned down and lightly touched his lips to Ryan's.

Ryan's eyes widened slightly, but he pushed back before Eric could pull away. "I think you need to do it a couple more times to see if that technique really works."

Eric smiled as he captured Ryan's lips in a couple more gentle kisses. He went in for a third kiss when Ryan pulled away suddenly. "Did I do something wrong?" Eric's eyebrows knit together.

Ryan shook his head a little and looked at the ground. He then looked up at Eric with a slight frown on his face. "I just, I have to know something." He took a breath and hesitated, opening then closing his mouth. "Are you doing this because you want to, or because there's a possibility that we won't remember a thing when we get out of wherever we are? Or because there's the possibility that I'm not even real to you? Or because-" Eric silence Ryan from rambling more with his lips, kissing him slowly.

"Does that answer your question?" Eric asked softly, their foreheads touching. Ryan nodded and smiled gently.

"It kind of does, but it makes me happy." Ryan lifted his eyes to meet Eric's.

"Oh, no. We can't have you being happy now can we?" Ryan and Eric broke away with wide eyes to stare at the intruder.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did though.

Summary: Forced into a dream reality, Ryan must find his way out and alive. With his past catching up with him and Eric along for the ride, getting home seems harder by the minute. But what other mysteries must Ryan uncover while in this alternate reality? What exactly is Kendrel's secret and how does it affect Ryan?

A/N: I know, I'm horribly slow, but school is almost over so I'll be updating more when I get it. But today you get three chapters!

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**Chapter 4  
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Kendrel sighed as she flipped through a magazine in her fixed spot in the bedroom. It had been two days since they had found Ryan unconscious, and now she was starting to get bored. If they stayed like this much longer, she was going to have to make the decision of having to do a favor for Eric and call in to his job for him, tell them he was visiting a dying family member and wasn't going to make it into the work for a couple days.

She paused in reading an article and shuddered. 'Doing a favor for Delko. Well, he would owe me for that.' She smirked at the thought of what she could possibly make Eric do to pay her back. After a few minutes she was brought back to the problem at hand. If Eric and Ryan stayed unconscious for a while, she wouldn't be able to keep up the excuses to anyone who wanted to see them. Eric could have only so many dying relatives before people stopped believing it.

She had no idea where to look, and she couldn't leave the boys alone. Not when a threat had already made itself known. Kendrel rolled her eyes and almost smacked her forehead.

"Duh, Horatio." She snorted at herself then got up in search of one of Eric's phones. As she walked down the hallway from the bedroom, she was suddenly tackled and slammed down to the floor. She snarled and pushed herself up from the ground and came face to face with the shadow from before. "You just don't stop!" She growled and launched herself at the shadow.

The shadow melted into the wall before she could reach him, then appeared from the other side, pushing Kendrel into the drywall. He slid across the floor and ran into the bedroom. Before he could get too far Kendrel flipped over his head and stopped in front of him. She grabbed the shadow's wrist and threw him back out into the hallway, his head hitting the door frame and he dropped to the ground. He made a hissing noise in his throat and twisted before Kendrel could grab him again. He seemed to bend away from her hands and kicked her back, sending her sprawling to the ground and out into the hallway. He kicked the door shut and watched as it locked.

Kendrel let out a frustrated yell and slammed on the door. Every time she got up, this freak tried to make an attack on the boys. The shadow quickly walked over to the boys then locked eyes on Ryan. He picked Ryan up by the front of his shirt and threw him across the floor. He looked back at Eric but was distracted when the bedroom door was splintered by blue fire. Kendrel's eyes were glowing once again and she was growling in anger.

"Now, you've pissed me off," she said through gritted teeth. She was suddenly in front of him, her fingers wrapped around the shadow's neck. She picked him up and threw him out the bedroom window, watching him plummet five floors to the ground. She wasn't able to see if he hit the ground though; she was distracted by the sudden pain-filled screams of Ryan on the floor. Quickly turning around, she ran over to his tossing body and grabbed onto his arms.

His hands were grabbing up by his face and she tried to pull them away. Her eyes widened when she finally managed to pin his hands to the ground. "Oh, shit. This is not good."

Ryan tried to scramble away but Eric grabbed his hands as they both stood up and started to back away.

"Did you two really think that you would get away from me?" Praxon stood several feet away from the boys. "That I would just let you wander away, thinking that you were safe? I made this world that you're in, and I will always know where you try to hide."

Ryan was tugging on Eric's hands, desperately trying to pull him away, trying to get him to run. "Why the hell are you following us?" Eric challenged. Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Eric's stupid courage.

"Would you shut the hell up and run?" Ryan hissed through his teeth.

"I admire his stupidity. But I think I can spare a moment of two to tell you why you will both die." Praxon seemed to don a thoughtful expression. "You, Ryan Wolfe, were to be my thirteenth victim, you were the last target."

"The last? Last target for what?" Ryan seemed to frown.

"Well, if I kill thirteen of the targets, than I am to become invincible, I receive immortality Nothing would be able to hurt me, to kill me. Now I know what you're thinking, or probably not thinking, surely it couldn't take that long to kill thirteen targets." The powerful demon seemed to shrug. "But then again, I don't make up the rules."

"What rules?" Ryan thought that the next time Eric talked he might just have to hit him. They could be taking this time to run away while Praxon talked.

"The rules that all demons were give. Kill thirteen targets and you receive immortality. Any demon who killed thirteen could receive it, no competition of being the first. Most of the targets hadn't been born. I was given my list in France in 1357. Your parents were not Targets, they just got in my way of killing you. I'm thousands of years old, and I've killed tens of thousands of people in my life time."

Ryan wanted to hit himself, but he couldn't help but ask his own question, at least while Praxon was in a somewhat good mood. "Why me? Why wait to kill me then?"

"That's the sporting fun in the list. To find the target, not knowing what year or where they were going to be born. Each demon at one point was given a list of thirteen targets, and it took hundreds of years to take out that list. The lists were created by a Seer, and those on the list were seen to be the ones that would be a threat to us Demons. And you, Ryan Michael Wolfe, are the last on my list." He growled the last part, his mood for talking obviously diminished. "I will receive my Immortality and be freed from this world

Ryan's eyes widened and he pulled on Eric's arm, not wanting to stick around to ask anymore questions, and this time Eric turned and ran with Ryan through the trees. They created a zig-zag pattern, hoping to lose the demon chasing them.

"This is going to be a definite problem in the future," Eric said as he darted around a tree. "I'm starting to think that too many people, or demons, or things want you dead."

"Well, you're right up there on that list, too," Ryan huffed out. "You keep hanging out with me, so they think you need to die, too."  
Eric grabbed Ryan's hand and made a sharp left turn, skidding on some leaves and almost losing his balance. Ryan followed easily and pulled on Eric's arm, righting him up on his feet again. "You're really good at this running thing."

"I used to go on morning runs for several years in the morning. You just don't do enough running," Ryan commented.

"I will if I stick around you. Running for my life." Ryan snorted and rolled his eyes. Several minutes later Eric stopped and bent over trying to catch his breath.

"I can't run without a break," Eric huffed out between breaths. Ryan nodded a little and looked around for any sign of Praxon.

"I think we may have lost him anyway. I've never known him to run anyway, he didn't follow me when I was thirteen." Ryan looked at Eric and smiled slightly. Ryan suddenly felt a shiver down his back and his senses went on alert. Then just as quickly he started to relax. "Eric," Ryan said quietly.

"Yeah?" Eric took one more breath and stood up. "Ryan? You okay?" Before Ryan could say anything a hand wrapped around Eric's shoulder and threw him backwards into a tree, knocking the wind out of the Cuban-Russian.

Ryan's eyes widened but didn't move, his body was too relaxed and didn't want to move. Praxon walked up to Ryan slowly, a smirk on his face exposing sharpened canines. "You're going to stand there while I kill you, and would you like to know why?" He grinned wider as he stopped right in front of Ryan. "Well, I think you might already know why. Those vampire hormones running through your veins are just my good luck."  
Praxon drew his hand back behind him and a small glowing ball appeared in his palm. Eric coughed as he was able to catch his breath and he looked up to see the ball growing in size. His eyes widened and he looked at Ryan.

"Ryan!" As Eric yelled Praxon thrust his arm forward, launching the projectile at Ryan. But before anything could happen Ryan was suddenly thrown to the ground by an unseen force. The glowing orb of power hit the tree behind Ryan turning it into slivers and chunks of wood. Praxon yelled in frustration and disappeared.

Eric seemed to sigh in relief as he pushed himself up. "That was too close Ryan." He looked over and saw Ryan's chest moving up and down rapidly and could hear Ryan's breath had quickened. "Ryan?" He hurried over and knelt down next to him. He looked at Ryan's right eye and he felt his own breath catch in his throat. A long sliver of the tree's bark had embedded itself between Ryan's eye and eyelid.

Eric let out a long stream of Russian as he ran his hands through his hair. He grabbed Ryan's hand quickly and that's when he started to scream in pain. Eric quickly grabbed his other hand before it could find its way up to his eyes. "Ryan! Stop, you can't pull it out!"  
Ryan started to shake his head frantically. "Get it out, you need to get it out!"

Eric held onto Ryan's hands and squeezed them tightly. "You can't pull it out. Listen to me, if you try to pull it out you might bleed out, or you might go blind. Trust me, can you do that? Can you trust me?" Ryan's screams had stopped as he listened to Eric's voice. He nodded slightly in understanding. "Okay, good. Now come on," he wrapped one of Ryan's arms around his neck and slowly helped Ryan stand up. "Maybe there's a river or something nearby. If we can get it cleaned up a little we may be able to somehow take care of it."

Ryan nodded weakly as he leaned on Eric. "We really need to get out of here." Ryan muttered as they walked.

Eric sighed and nodded. "Don't worry, we'll find some way out of here."

Kendrel dabbed a wet wash cloth at Ryan's eye gently. It had taken her some time but she had eventually gotten Ryan back to his position on the bed next to Eric. Then she immediately called Horatio. She knew that the shadow hadn't done anything to Ryan's eye and she needed answers. She had almost all the blood washed off when Horatio walked into the bedroom.

"Kendrel?' he raised an eyebrow and came to stand next to her at the bed by the boys.

"I have no idea what's going on Horatio," Kendrel sighed as she dropped the rag on the bedside table. "They won't wake up, and suddenly something just happens to Ryan's eyes. It was bleeding, was still is, but I don't know why." Indeed more blood had started to seep from the mysterious injury.

"Was anyone else here?" He took of his glasses as he observed the coma-like state that the boys were in.

"There was someone, but he didn't get anywhere close to Ryan's eye. He threw him off the bed and then I threw him out the window." Kendrel couldn't help the small smirk of satisfaction that started to creep onto her face. "That's when Ryan just started screaming in pain. I figured you might be able to help me figure out why they won't wake up. I don't wanna have to do any favors for anyone if they stay like this too long."

Horatio didn't say anything for a couple minutes as he just looked at the two men on the bed. "I'll need you to tell me everything you know so far, I might have something. I'll have to call Calleigh, too. Did you use your powers at all?"

Kendrel looked at him and raised an eyebrow, then smirked slightly. "Just this last time I did. This is the third time that someone has tried to attack them. You knew didn't you?"

Horatio just let a ghost of a smiled cross his lips. "I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret."

"You tricky dog, you," she chuckled then started to tell him about the day they found Ryan.

"Oh, no. We can't have you being happy now can we?" Ryan and Eric broke away with wide eyes to stare at the intruder.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Wooo Chapter 5! Now I just need to finish writing the other chapters....

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Chapter 5

Ryan was taking deep breaths and looking up at the sky as he lay on his back by the water. Eric had ripped off part of his fraying jeans and was attempting to get the blood out of it. Ryan felt his hands clenching into fists, taking grass and dirt up from the ground as he did so. Although Eric had done his best to clean around the piece of wood, Ryan could still feel it every time he blinked, and he wanted nothing more than to reach up and pull it out.

"Hopefully we'll run into a house, or some kind of city soon, if this place is as messed up as it seems to be," Eric muttered, wringing out the jean piece one more time. He pulled himself back over by Ryan and took one of his clenching hands, rubbing the back of it. "We'll be able to treat it with something and pull out the wood."

"Why can't you pull it out now? There's less of a chance of me bleeding out now," Ryan asked in a quiet, but pain-laced voice.

"I'm afraid that it I pull it out too fast or if my fingers slip, you'll be left with splinters, and then it'll grow infected." Eric admitted. "I wanna be able to treat it with some kind of cream when I pull it out, also." Ryan nodded slightly and took a deep breath.

"I think I can walk now, if you want to keep moving." Ryan told him, still hanging on to Eric's hand. "We should keep following the water, it should eventually lead us to people."

"How do you figure?" Eric asked while he helped Ryan sit up slowly.

"Well, someone will have seen this and they'll have wanted to turn this into a water supply for others. So it should lead us to some kind of water place, or something, I don't know." Ryan shrugged a little. "I might just be delirious. I know that's not really how a lot of things work, but in this messed up world, maybe it is."

Eric stood up and grabbed both of Ryan's hand to pull him up. "Well, it's worth a shot and I don't really have anything else to go on, so we might as well try it. Are you sure you want to up and walking? Don't want to rest any longer?" Eric asked, concern in his voice.

"I wanna get this thing the hell out of my eye," Ryan answered ruefully. Eric smiled slightly and nodded and they started to walk, still holding hands.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

Kendrel watched while Horatio talked to Calleigh on his cell phone. He had no idea what was wrong with Eric and Ryan, but he knew that he had a few books on their condition. Kendrel rolled her eyes a little; Horatio had books on just about everything.

When Horatio flipped his phone closed, she looked at him expectantly. "Calleigh's going to look, then bring over whatever she finds," he said simply. "So this shadow figure that keeps attacking," he turned to look at her. "Do you think that it'll come back?"

"Usually does, if he didn't die from the five story drop." She shrugged and looked around. "So do you think that if Ryan doesn't wake up soon that some real damage could be done to his eye?"

Horatio was silent for a moment but then nodded. "I think that whatever is happening to them wherever they are, is happening to them here. It seems to me that is some kind of spell, and that someone wanted Ryan out of the way. Eric might have just gotten in the way."

Kendrel blew some air out of her mouth. "Of course, just my luck. As long as they wake up." Horatio nodded, agreeing with her. They were silent for a couple minutes when Kendrel looked up. "I think that this is part of something bigger."

Horatio looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that? Demon intuition?"

"No," she shook her head. "Just intuition. I mean, why just put Ryan to sleep, or whatever he is, when they could have just killed him. It's obvious that he was caught off guard, because he didn't try to fight back, so they had the opportunity to kill him."

Horatio seemed to think about her words for a minute then nodded. "Someone else wants to kill him, or something similar."

"Why?" Kendrel threw up her hands. "Why is this family always cursed with bad luck?"

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

It took some time, but Eric and Ryan stumbled across another house, finally reaching the end of the wooded area. Ryan heard Eric groan and turned his head to look at him.

"Now we're at my house." Eric muttered out. Ryan chuckled slightly as they continued to walk.

"Not so happy to be home?" He asked, and Eric rolled his eyes.

"As long as none of my family is here."

"Well, so far we haven't run across any other person that we know."

Eric nodded. "I think we might be in luck this time."

"After we take care of this we can try and find a way out of here." They soon reached the front door and Eric found that it wasn't locked, very much unlike how it actually was when he was growing up there. He helped Ryan inside and they made their way to the bathroom. Ryan sat down on the toilet as he watched Eric rummage through the medicine cabinet.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" He had to sit on his hands to resist the urge to reach up and rub his eye.

"I'm sure like some rubbing alcohol, maybe some cream, bandages, stuff like that should help. That's what Mama gave me whenever I got hurt," Eric rattled off like it was no problem. Ryan was seriously doubting Eric's abilities at that moment. He was no doctor, but neither was Ryan. At that moment he had resigned himself to going blind.

"Okay, this should work." Eric turned around, putting a few bottles and a tube on the back of the toilet. He had a pair of tweezers and a wet cloth in his hand and looked at Ryan. "You can hold onto the edge of the toilet seat and I'll slowly pull out the wood. This way if there are any slivers that break lose, I can get them easily."

Ryan let out a shaky breath and slowly gripped the sides of the toilet seat. "Okay, I think I'm ready. Just do this quick." Ryan closed his good eye tightly then relaxed so he wasn't making it any harder for Eric.

Eric took his own breath and shook out his hand before slowly lowering the tweezers. He gently gripped the end of the wood chunk. "So do you have any ideas how we get home?" He thought that maybe he could keep Ryan distracted by talking to him. It might make things go a little more smoothly.

"None," Ryan liked giving one word answers when his eyesight was on the line, but figured that Eric was only trying to help. "Hopefully Kendrel has called Horatio and they're working on something."

"We're not even sure how much time has passed in the real world, or whatever," Eric responded as he started to gently pull up, very slowly.

"Just like we're not sure how much time has passed in this world?" Ryan commented on their own time dilemma.

"I'm not exactly sure who the optimist is supposed to be in this relationship, but neither one of us is doing a good job at it right now."

Ryan felt his mind become highly distracted by Eric's use of the word relationship. In fact he became so distracted by his own inner thoughts that he jumped when Eric finally pulled the piece of wood out of his eye and placed the wet cloth in its place.

"So far so good. Are you feeling any other pain?" Ryan looked up at Eric and shook his head. "Good, it doesn't look to be bleeding anymore," he turned to grab some gauze and tape from the back of the toilet.

"Where do you think we should go after this?" Ryan asked, not looking at Eric as he gently placed the gauze over his eye.

"You don't want to stay here?" Eric ripped off some of the medical tape and placed it around the edges of the gauze.

"I think that if we stay in one place for too long, that's when trouble usually finds us. Also, if we keep moving we might find some way to get out of here, or to contact someone else." Ryan pointed out and put his hand over the gauze. It was dark, but he couldn't be sure if it was because of the gauze covering his eye, or because they had waited too long to take out the wood.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

Horatio was looking through the books that Calleigh had brought over, and Kendrel was looking through the bag of weapons that she had also brought with her. Calleigh herself was watching the boys, looking for anything unusual, other than the fact that wouldn't wake up.

Calleigh sat down in the chair closest to Ryan and watched him for any movement. But it wasn't any body movement that caught her attention, but the fact that a piece of gauze had slowly materialized over Ryan's damaged eye. His body seemed to relax and his head turned towards Eric, their hands almost touching.

"Guys," she sat up in the chair, and idea slowly forming in her mind. She kept watching the boys but did notice that neither of them had paid any attention to her when she talked. "Hey, you guys, I have an idea."

Kendrel tried not to sigh out loud and put down the sword that she had been training with. "What kind of idea?" Horatio glanced up from the book he was reading through to watch the girls interact.

"Look at Ryan, notice anything different?" This time Horatio put down his book and walked closer to Ryan, as did Kendrel.

"Did you dress his eye?" Horatio of course was the first one to notice the difference.

"No, it just appeared, on its own." Calleigh looked back up at the two as they stared at Ryan with confused expressions. "But it gives me an idea. This means that someone, most likely Eric, has tried to treat Ryan's eye in whatever realm they're in. She if things can appear from their realm into ours,…" Calleigh trailed off, noticing that both adults in the room were following her thinking.

"Who's to say that stuff from where we are won't show up where they are," Kendrel was the first one to answer. "That's like, on the verge of brilliant." Calleigh rolled her eyes and leaned over to the table that Horatio has his books at and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.

"I say that we write them a note, try and get it to them so we know what's going on." She started to write quickly on the paper.

"How exactly are they going to get it back to us? And how are you going to get it to them?" Although she was the first one to catch on to Calleigh's idea, she was also the first to find any flaws.

"I'm going to try and put it in Ryan's pocket and hope that it works. As for getting a note back," Calleigh shrugged as she folded up the note. "I guess we're going to have to leave it up to them to figure out." She moved Ryan's arm so that she could get to the front pocket of Ryan's jeans and slipped the note in.

"We just have to have hope that it'll work," Horatio nodded and sat back down at the table.

Kendrel turned to look at him then grumbled and picked the sword back up. "If he calls me Padawan, then someone will die by this sword." She swung it in the air, cutting the head off of a flower.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Wooo Chapter 6! Now I just need to finish writing the other chapters....

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**Chapter 6**

Horatio suddenly sat up with a book in his hand, a slightly triumphant look on his face. "I think I've found something." Kendrel had been trying to take a nap while Calleigh was waiting for a response from the boys.

"Is it some way to get them back into this world and awake?" Kendrel looked out the window and noticed that morning was slowly coming again. She had about one more day before she would have to start calling into work for Eric.

"I think so, but I'm not sure. If Calleigh's method of communication works, I might be able to get them out." Horatio skimmed over the words with his finger, double checking his thought process. "The boys will have to recite this incantation themselves though."

"So this whole theory rests solely on the hunch of Calleigh's notes?" Kendrel did not sound convinced, or very enthusiastic about the plan. And as if almost on cue, Calleigh sat up and quickly reached over to Ryan's front pocket. She lifted out pieces of paper and began to unfold them.

"Are you sure that it's not the same note that you wrote to the boys?" Kendrel leaned on the windowsill and watched the blonde read quickly through the notes.

"Positive. It's from Eric," she held the note up triumphantly. "He says they're alright for now, and that Ryan's eye isn't looking any worse on their end. He also says that they've had a run-in with a demon."

"What demon?" Kendrel sat up, suddenly taking interest in the note. "Does it have a name?"

"Praxon?" Calleigh looked up from the note, wondering she had even pronounced the name right. "Do you know him?"

Kendrel ignored her question and looked at Horatio, standing up. "We need to get them out of there now. Get that incantation written down," she then turned her attention to Calleigh, "and get it to them as fast as possible."

Calleigh glanced back at Horatio and blinked. Horatio caught her look and relayed their thoughts. "What's the big rush? Who's Praxon?"

"Your biggest fear if you don't work fast!" Kendrel quickly walked out of the room when she heard a knock at the front door. Calleigh shrugged and Horatio set about writing down the incantation for the boys.

Kendrel practically flung Eric's front door open and growled when she didn't see anyone there. There was no note or anything else that someone could have dropped off at the door. Her eyes narrowed slightly and they glowed in her annoyance. Just when she got some bad news, some little punk had to go and play this joke. As she shut the door, she was pushed to the ground and a foot was placed on her chest heavily to keep her down.

She growled and looked up to see the same shadowed man from before. "Why won't you just die?!"

"Because, I've come for my own revenge now," he hissed at her and Kendrel was temporarily shocked that he had actually talked back to her this time. "I was sent to do a job, and you," he pushed down harder on her chest with his foot, "just keep getting in my damn way."

"Then you're really going to hate me now," she smirked and pushed her hands up, a shock force pushing the man off of her and crashing into the couch. Kendrel quickly pushed herself back up, legs propelling her forward before the Shadow could get back up.

"So I pissed you off enough that you felt the need to come and get revenge, huh?" Kendrel smirked slightly. It had been a while since she had made someone that mad. This time it was her turn to step on his chest. She then flopped down in one fluid motion to sit on top of his chest, legs crossed. "I'm kind of touched."

"Not you," he growled and grabbed her arms, flipping her back into the wall. "Although, I wouldn't lament being rid of you." Kendrel caught herself before she crashed head first into the wall, and both stood, facing each other, neither making a move.

"Then, what the hell are you doing here?" It seemed that there was an unspoken agreement to talk before they went back at trying to kill each other.

"To kill that idiotic cop in there, that you seem so keen on protecting." The Shadow rolled his eyes, as if Kendrel should have known that answer. "I have my own personal vendetta."

"The why did you attack Eric?" She could hear Ryan's voice in her head already denying the fact that he was a cop.

"Eric is the one I'm trying to kill. God, are you just that daft?" he growled out, clearly losing his patience with her. But this piece of information seemed to have caught Kendrel slightly off guard. "I was hired to take out the other one, someone else wants the pleasure of killing him. Someone powerful."

"So, you want to kill Eric, and you were hired to take out Ryan?" Kendrel was talking more to herself than to the Shadow. "This is starting to make a little more sense." When Kendrel looked back towards the Shadow, her eyes caught the glint of something metal and she barely had time to move when Horatio fired his pistol at the Shadow.

Within that split second of the trigger being pulled, the Shadow had narrowed his eyes and melded into the shadows on the floor, disappearing and avoiding the bullet altogether. Kendrel froze against the wall, the bullet lodging itself into the wall only a mere inch away from her nose. She no longer sensed the Shadow in the room and turned her glare to Horatio.

"Are you fucking nuts? Do you know how close that came to hitting me?" She moved away from the wall and threw her arms in the air. Horatio merely clicked the safety back into position and replaced the pistol in the holster on his belt, and shrugged.

"It didn't hit you though." He smirked and turned back to walk into the bedroom. Kendrel growled and followed him.

"I can still feel pain if I'm shot. I may be immortal, but I can still feel pain, and die." She growled out as Horatio sat back in his chair, which had been moved to sit next to Calleigh. "Did you at least send the boys the incantation?" She was brought back to their current problem at hand.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

Ryan took out the pieces of paper from his front pocket and handed them to Eric. "Leave it to Calleigh to find a relatively simple solution to our communication problem." Ryan and Eric had been walking through a grassy field for the past several hours, looking for any sign of life. "I bet she was thinking of building some kind of weapon, or device that would attempt the find us."

Eric snorted, a small smirk playing on his lips. As her started to read the new notes his smirk turned into a grin. "They've done it!" he exclaimed, catching Ryan off guard. "They've found a way to get us out of here." He held the pieces of paper up in triumph.

"Really??" Ryan grinned and moved closer to Eric to try and read the words that had been written. "What do we have to do? Can we do it relatively quick?"

"Doesn't look like it should take that long. Seems all we have to do it say this stuff here, and it should get us out of here." Eric glanced at Ryan, the grin still spread across his face. Ryan looked up at him, with a matching grin.

"So what do you say, when we get out of here, after we get your eye checked out, I take you out?" Eric's smirked had returned as he knew that he had caught Ryan relatively off guard.

"You mean, like a date?" Ryan blinked slightly, then smiled and nodded. "You're on. Now, let's get the hell out of here, Delko."

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

Kendrel looked at the mess that was Eric's apartment. Having been through four attacks from the same demon that spanned almost the entire apartment layout, it did not look pretty. She was pretty sure that if she didn't do something with it, Eric was going to be royally pissed when he came back.

Which they were all hoping would be any time now. Kendrel waved her hand and a broom and dustpan moved to sweep up the large pieces of debris as she walked back into the bedroom, waiting in anticipation with Horatio and Calleigh.

"So, how long are waiting until we call this a failure? Because, it's already been three hours." Sometimes she got the feeling that she was the only keeping track of things like this.

"We'll wait for another note from the boys before we try something new," Calleigh answered. "Again, we're not sure how time moves, wherever they are." Kendrel rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to respond when she caught sight of Eric's arm moving.

His body rolled slightly, as if he were waking up, and they all heard Ryan groan slightly. Kendrel blinked, surprised that the incantation had actually worked as Calleigh and Horatio ran over to Ryan and Eric. Eric was the first to open his eyes, meeting the expectant eyes of a grateful Calleigh. He started to mutter his thanks in Spanish and Calleigh chuckled.

"Yeah, we're pretty happy that you came back, too." She took his hand and slowly helped him sit up. They both looked over at Ryan as his uninjured eye fluttered open, and Horatio helped his sit up, also.

"How are you feeling?" Kendrel was standing at the end of the bed, with her hands on her hips. "Because, I would like to state right now that I am not a maid service, and I expect some kind of compensation for taking care of your bum asses."

"I think that we can counter that statement." Ryan leaned his head back against the headboard of the bed after he found a comfortable position. "Should I be calling you Aunt, or something else?" Eric snorted and his hand had moved its way over to intertwine with Ryan's.

"You were like two years old the last time you saw me," Kendrel muttered, arms now crossed over her chest. "There's no way you would remember me."

"You're right, I didn't remember you." Ryan closed his eyes and gave Eric's hand a slight squeeze.

"We saw your picture up on the wall at Ryan's old house," Eric explained, sensing the exhaustion that was radiating from the younger man next to him. "And I think that I speak for both of us when I say that we would like some kind of explanation, but I'm pretty sure that there a few other important things that take priority."

"You are correct," Horatio nodded and grabbed his sunglasses from his lapel pocket. He slipped them on and glanced at the boys. "A trip to the hospital is in order for at least one of you."

Ryan groaned but didn't move of open his eye. Horatio and Calleigh both grabbed one of Ryan's arms, slipping them over their shoulders and helping him off of the bed. Kendrel walked over and grabbed one of Eric's arms, hanging back a little as the other three made their way out of the bedroom.

"So, I take it that a few other things happened?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and elaborated when Eric didn't seem to get her hint. "You two a couple now, or something?" Eric's mouthed shaped into a little 'o.'

"Or something," he smirked a little as they started to move.

"Thank the gods," Kendrel smirked then turned serious. "How was he? I know Praxon, and he doesn't play nice with others."

"He indeed does not," Eric agreed. "I think that it's going to take Ryan a little bit to cope, but as long as he has some time to deal with it without something else popping up to ruin his life, he should be okay."

"This is Ryan that we're talking about." Kendrel pointed out.

"Yeah, I know." Eric nodded. "That's also why I've concluded that I'm going to be around him for a while."

"Because you want to protect him, or for another reason?"

"Well, I can watch after him when I take him out for our date." Eric smiled slightly as they left his apartment, the door shutting behind him. "Also, I think that I'll be staying at his apartment with him for a while."

"Why do you say that?" Kendrel raised an eyebrow as they caught up with the others at the elevator.

"Because you trashed my apartment." He looked at Kendrel, and she skillfully turned her attention elsewhere. Ryan smirked slightly and shook his head, happy to be home.

As the elevator doors shut, two pairs of golden eyes glinted from the shadows of the hallway. Two figures moved out from the shadows of the hall over to the recently emptied apartment. The pair moved to Eric's apartment and the door slid open with no effort, on it's own. Both men walked into the apartment, and as the door slid shut the golden-eyed copy of Eric turned to smirk at his 'copy-cat' partner, Ryan.


End file.
